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Seattle, WA – Last Friday, three immigrants and two immigration service providers filed a nationwide class action lawsuit here in Seattle against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for unlawfully delaying the adjudication of their applications for employment authorization. Filed by the American Immigration Council, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), Gibbs Houston Pauw, Scott D. Pollock & Associates, P.C., and Van der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale, LLP, the complaint alleges that USCIS’s policies and practices of failing to timely adjudicate applications for employment authorization documents (EADs) and failing to issue interim employment authorization, violate the governing regulations and the Administrative Procedure Act.

By regulation, USCIS must either adjudicate EAD applications within a fixed time period or issue interim employment authorization. Yet, USCIS regularly fails to do either, leaving immigrants in a precarious position, unable to work legally and at risk of losing their jobs, related benefits and, in some states, their driver’s licenses. At a recent meeting with AILA members, USCIS representatives indicated that “USCIS no longer produces interim EADs.” Plaintiffs seek the Court’s intervention to compel USCIS to adjudicate EAD applications within the time period mandated by the regulations or, if the regulatory time period has expired, issue interim employment authorization.

Gibbs Houston Pauw has filed an amicus brief in Kerry v. Din, a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that courts should be able to review and reverse arbitrary decisions made by consular officers to deny visas. This case addresses the doctrine of consular nonreviewability, the general rule accepted by some courts that the decisions made by consular officers – even totally arbitrary decisions – cannot be reviewed in any way by the courts. The amicus brief was filed on behalf of over 70 immigration law professors.

In a recent federal court case in Seattle, District Judge Ricardo Martinez harshly criticized the USCIS and State Department for manipulating the record and consistently making misrepresentations to the court about the evidence that it considered in a J-1 waiver adjudication. The court awarded over $50,000 in attorney’s fees to Linda Guerra and her husband as a result of the bad faith conduct of USCIS and the Department of State in litigation over the adjudication by CIS and State of her application for a waiver of the J-1 foreign residence requirement. Guerra et al v. USA, No. 09-CV-01027 RSM (W.D. Wash., Oct. 21, 2014).

AFTER years of delay, President Obama has finally acted on immigration reform. This is a watershed moment in my life and the life of my community in Seattle. These days I am studying for a doctor of medicine degree at Harvard Medical School, after graduating from the University of Washington in 2011. But I grew up undocumented in Seattle.

I was 5 years old when my family embarked on a journey from Mexico to the “land of opportunity.” They chose Seattle because we had relatives in the area. We eventually settled in the Delridge neighborhood near White Center.

Despite my parents’ numerous attempts to obtain a green card, they found no viable option. With their choice to remain and endure came a sense of fear and uncertainty as “illegal aliens,” a status that marred our every connection with the world. Despite working six days a week in low-paying jobs offering no benefits, my parents had trouble providing for my family. At school I was perpetually aware of the consequences of having my illegal status revealed. I was plagued by nightmares of being caught and deported. This was my childhood.

In my home state of Washington, I’ve heard from hundreds of families and businesses who have been directly impacted by our broken system.“Businesses like the West Sound Lumber Company on Orcas Island – a small sawmill owned by the Helsell family for more than four decades. “West Sound Lumber is only able to keep its doors open because of a young man,Benjamin Nunez-Marquez, who goes by Ben.

A few weeks ago, the Western Washington Society of Professional Journalists chapter (of which I am a board member) hosted its annual awards gala to honor some of the Northwest’s best journalists.

This year, the board selected Danny Westneat as Journalist of the Year. In his speech that night, Danny questioned his role in the Northwest media ecosystem: He hadn’t, he said, uncovered any major government corruption this year or gone undercover to reveal abuse at any giant, overstepping corporations. Read more →